Tuesday Newsday: More Rs than a pirate convention

Journey and The Walking Dead could hardly be more different, but both were Screen Play reader favourites last year, with the pair of them scoring a very well-deserved tie for Best Adventure Game during our end-of-year polls.

It seems the Academy of Interactive Arts and Science agrees with you, dear readers, because both games have achieved major victories at the AIAS's annual DICE Awards. These awards carry significant weight in the industry as they are not a popularity contest; all awards are voted on by a selection of industry experts. A DICE Award means that your game has impressed the game-creation community.

After taking out many Game of the Year awards at the end of 2012, Telltale Games' episodic character-driven adventure The Walking Dead took four awards, including best adventure and best downloadable, as well as two "outstanding achievement" awards.

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Jenova Chen's ThatGameCompany, which skated along the very brink of bankruptcy in order to make sure their game was perfect before it was released, received a staggering eight awards, including the coveted DICE Game of the Year. It also received nods for sound design, music, art, innovation, and more.

Halo 4 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown also scored two awards each, while Screen Play readers' Game of the Year and most-played game, Mass Effect 3, picked up the award for best RPG. Even "the game we play so much it got its own nickname" Borderlands 2 snagged the award for best action game.

Seven R18+ rated games in five weeks

The Australian Classification Board certainly didn't waste any time getting some ink on their brand new R18+ stamp. After classifying four games adults-only during January, the first month the rating was available, they have added another three in just the first week of February.

While God of War: Ascension is the highest profile game to be granted the new rating, the other two are less well-known. Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is a bloody online first-person brawler, a commercial release of what was originally a Half-Life 2 mod. Ride to Hell: Retribution is an interesting case, as the real-world biker drama from Deep Silver was reported to have been cancelled, until our Classification Board reported it had been submitted for a rating.

What does this flurry of activity mean? Do we have a lot of ultraviolent games coming out all of a sudden, or is the board being a little overzealous with the R ratings? It is a little early to be sure, but YouTube footage of Chivalry looks no more gruesome than Skyrim, which received an MA15+. Now, one of the arguments for the new rating was that many games that should have been adults-only were getting an MA15+ in Australia, so perhaps this is an overdue correction.

I suppose we will know for sure when either Mortal Kombat or Left 4 Dead 2, previously refused classification, are granted an R18+ when they are resubmitted.

Rayman Legends exclusive no more

In a savage kick in the pants for many Wii U early adopters who have been waiting for Rayman Legends, it has not only been delayed again, but also newly-announced as a cross-platform title. The sequel to the smash hit Rayman Origins was originally slated to be a launch title for Nintendo's new console, but less than two months before launch it was delayed until February 2013.

With this new launch date now on the horizon, publisher Ubisoft then delivered a staggering triple blow: the release is now being pushed all the way back to September 2013, the former exclusive would also be released on Xbox 360 and PS3 on that date, and the Wii U version is complete and ready to play.

The third point seems the most cruel. After months of waiting for what was set to be one of the highlights of the Wii U launch, fans are not only being forced to wait another seven months, but they are also doing so with the knowledge that their game is 100% complete, and is only being delayed so that all platforms will have a simultaneous release.

Unsurprisingly, the news has generated a wave of negative feedback in the Wii U fan community, flooding the Miiverse with angry drawings. Ubisoft has announced a second Wii U exclusive demo by way of an apology, but it is unlikely to soothe the hurt feelings.

- James "DexX" Dominguez

DexX is on Twitter: @jamesjdominguez

20 comments so far

Never played a Rayman game, but that is harsh! I don't mind a bit of console rivalry with exclusives and I certainly understand why fans are angry. I wonder if Ubisoft can keep this up until September or will fan backlash change things?

Commenter

Joka

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 7:21AM

Congratulations to all the DICE award winners. I absolutely loved Journey, The Walking Dead, XCOM and Mass Effect 3 (even the ending).

I don't think the classification board is getting over zealous with R18. I do believe they under-classified many title previously because to not certify is effectively a ban. The amount of games I have with both the BBFC 18 and Australian MA15 classification printed right next to each other is quite extraordinary.

When Rayman Legends was first announced the developers were a little cagey about the exclusivity of it. Many Xbox and PlayStation owners made Rayman Origins the success it is (I know I bought 2 copies - PS3 & Vita). I'd imagine that the 2.5 million Wii U install base isn't that great when you compare it to the 150 million for Xbox/PS3... there's a lot more money to be made! I do understand the disappointment of the early adopters though.

Commenter

Scubafinch

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 8:25AM

Wow - that news about Rayman Legends is pretty damn bad. Sure, I can understand a September release for the non-Wii U versions.... but holding off on an already completed game so it can be released with everyone else, despite preaching 'console exclusive' at the start? That's just a low blow Ubisoft - I can sympathise with most of the images on the Miiverse.

Commenter

Schmole

Location

Sydney

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 8:59AM

Good news for Journey and The Walking Dead, both great games (I have no hope for the Activision published action game for the Walking Dead).

My only worry with the whole R18+ thing is that it'll be the 'new' MA. Don't get me wrong many MA titles should be classified R, but I'm kinda worried that despite having a R rating it'll still be the same. Games that would've been banned in the old system still get banned under the new one, censorship etc. I guess we'll only ever find out if Mortal Kombat and Left 4 Dead 2 are ever resubmitted.

Rayman Legends not being exclusive is a plus, making Wii U gamers wait however is a big no no. Kinda reminds me of what happened with Anarchy Reigns, where Sega released it in Japan then waited for half a year to release it for everyone else at a budget price (Japanese version also had all English options which made it even more bizarre). At least in Anarchy Reigns case, it was released somewhere. Oh well, I'll be getting a Wii U at some point, due to Monolith Soft's new game (reminds me a fair bit of Phantasy Star) and Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem.

In other news, Persona 4 Arena is apparently near release now. Its upto getting submitted to be approved and waiting on the 360 version. If all goes well, PAL should get it by the end of the month. Took them long enough!

Commenter

Raito

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 9:04AM

Persona has a what now? Oh that fightiing game....

Sarcasm aside. I think the buzz on P4 Arena has pretty much fizzled to a majority of the PAL fans at this point. It's been months since it came out in US/Jp and there has been no news unless you were still keen to dig up what miniscule bread crumbs you can track... I know its not Atlus US's fault per se but honestly in this world of the internet and online play simulataneous releases count for a lot. The longer you drag on a game from an initial release from US and JP then you start loosing the initial hype/anticipation the longer it drags on as people stop caring.

It also won't help online play either. I'm more of a casual fighter player so I'm not too fussed but a huge chunk of the PAL "pro" scene would be so far behind on US/Jp at this point that going online would be asking to be slaughtered. =/

Commenter

RocK_M

Location

I want chinese take-away!

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 9:46AM

I thought what was more telling about the Rayman Legends fiasco were the angry messages from the developers about the months of overtime they spent trying to meet deadline. Nice way for Ubisoft to give them a kick to the groin.

Commenter

Smoolander

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 9:16AM

It also doesn't help the Wii U folks either... their getting an "exclusive" demo while they wait.

Personally seems more like a slap to the face by saying "here's what you *could* be playing but you'll have to wait because we changed our plans!"

Commenter

RocK_M

Location

I want chinese take-away!

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 9:31AM

Oh it's definitely an insult to Wii U owners, however from a sales perspective it makes sense for Ubisoft to delay it to allow the install base of the Wii U to grow. Guess we'll just have to wait and see whether the fan aggro affects sales on the Wii U (history suggests no for other games met with fan outrage - see Left 4 Dead 2 as one example).

Commenter

Smoolander

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 10:20AM

Grrrrrrrrrrr!!! Nintendo have really hashed up the WiiU launch. I am a huge Nintendo fan and was really excited about this console but I am so glad we did not buy one in 2012. I see no reason to buy one other than to check out the cool drawings on the Miiverse.

Where is the awesome launch title? I though it was Rayman until this announcement... Mr Bomb asked if I wanted a WiiU for valentines day, I said no. Until I see a game that I must play I don't see a reason to spend $500 on this thing. Bring on the OUYA.

Commenter

TBomb

Date and time

February 12, 2013, 9:45AM

The Penny Arcade guys actually tore into Ubisoft for this bull. The response was all over twitter a few days ago to the point where they responded to Gabe himself.

Unfortunately, it was just some stock-standard PR Horse-excrement response about 'taking the feedback on board'